1. Field of the Invention
Non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method and system for facilitating remote medical diagnosis and consultation, in particularly in the medical diagnosis and consultation of heart disease.
2. Background
In traditional health care system, medical diagnosis and consultation is conducted face to face between the patients and the doctors in the clinics and hospitals. The traditional health care system requires that a patient visit a clinic or hospital for occasional retrieval of data from the implanted device to assess the operations of the device and gather patient history for both clinical and research purposes. Such data is acquired by having the patient in a hospital/clinic to down load the stored data from the implantable medical device. Depending on the frequency of data collection this procedure may pose serious difficulty and inconvenience for patients who live in rural areas or have limited mobility. Furthermore, the patient's medical records are also kept for record purpose in the clinics and hospitals.
The health care industry is undergoing an evolution by integrating Information Technology (IT). One such application of the Information Technology facilitates remote medical diagnosis and consultation.
A technology-based health care system that fully integrates the technical and social aspects of patient care and therapy should be able to flawlessly connect the client with care providers irrespective of separation distance or location of the participants. While clinicians will continue to treat patients in accordance with accepted modem medical practice, developments in communications technology are making it ever more possible to provide a seamless system of remote patient diagnostics, care and medical services in a time and place independent manner.
There exist many systems and methods with the objective of facilitating remote medical diagnosis and consultation. Some examples of such systems and methods are described as follows.
International Application No. PCT/US2003/038603 discloses a method for remote medical consulting which includes collecting diagnostic data using at least one wearable device contoured to at least a portion of a person's hand, transmitting the diagnostic data to a remote location, transmitting audio data and video images of the patient to the remote location, and communicating diagnosis and/or treatment information to the patient based at least in part on the diagnostic data. The treatment information may include a prescription electronically transmitted to the patient or a pharmacy. The method includes billing of the patient via credit or debit card, bank account, or a third party, such as an insurance company. The diagnostic data as well as the audio and video data may be transmitted wirelessly via cellular or satellite communication networks and/or using a wide area computer network such as the internet.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/801,709 disclose a system for remote consultation via a remote mobile communication apparatus having a unit of medical equipment, a medical server and a remote medical communication apparatus. A method for remote consultation employs the medical equipment to produce the first medical record and store it into the medical server to the remote mobile communication apparatus via a wireless communication network, browse the first medical record, increase, modifies or varies the medical images or medical text of the first medical report to form a second medical report, and use the mobile communication apparatus to send the second medical report back to the medical server via the wireless communication network. The remote consultation can be reached.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,816,603 discloses a method and apparatus for remote medical monitoring incorporating video processing and system of motor tasks. Video image data is received in the form of a sequence of images representative of a subject performing one or more predetermined tasks within a new environment. A plurality of silhouettes is generated from the video image data and combined to provide a motion portrait. Motion characteristics are then calculated based on the motion portrait and may be compared with normal or previous motion characteristics as part of diagnostic analysis.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,346 discloses an apparatus and method for remote therapy and diagnosis in medical devices via interface systems. A system for transferring data into and out of medical devices wherein a personal data manager (PDM) is used in a web-based network is disclosed. The PDM co-operates with a programmer to enhance remote monitoring of implanted medical devices on a chronic basis to deliver clinical therapy in real time. The PDM is hand-holdable and mobile and expands the reach of the programmer by storing and forwarding data from the programmer to web-based network constituting a medical environment. The PDM is also implemented to store and forward information to PCs and similar peripheral equipment. In a specialized application, the PDM is configured to exchange data with the unregulated operational/functional segments of the IMD.
However, the above described examples of systems and methods do not cover remote medical diagnosis and consultation of heart disease.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system to facilitate remote medical diagnosis and consultation of heart disease.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and system for patients to have more control and awareness over their medical records.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method and system that can save traveling time for patients as a result of remote medical diagnosis and consultation of any heart disease.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and system whereby the doctor has access to more accurate and longer medical records of the patients.
It is another further object of the present invention to provide a method and system to enable pharmacist to refill prescription and administrator to bill payment to the patients.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.